Star by Star (Star Wars: The New Jedi Order, Book 9) (Mass Market Paperback)

~ (Author) "Outside the medcenter viewport, a ragged crescent of white twinkles known as the Drall's Hat drooped across the violet sky, its lower tip slashing through..." (more)
Key Phrases: magma missiles, battle meld, repulsor chair, Yuuzhan Vong, Nom Anor, New Republic (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

A new book in the successful "New Jedi Order" series, created jointly by Del Rey and Lucasfilm, this adventure pits the children of old favorites Luke, Leia, and Han against alien invaders.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description

The New York Times bestselling Star Wars series The New Jedi Order enthralls readers with its epic drama and thrilling adventure. Now readers will pierce the very heart of darkness. . . .

It is a solemn time for the New Republic, as the merciless Yuuzhan Vong continue their campaign of destruction. The brutal enemy has unleashed a savage creature capable of finding—and killing—Jedi Knights. And now Leia Organa Solo faces a terrible ultimatum. If the location of the secret Jedi base is not revealed within one week, the Yuuzhan Vong will blast millions of refugee ships into oblivion.

As the battered but still unbroken Jedi scramble to deal with the newest onslaught, Leia’s son Anakin lays out a daring plan. He will lead a Jedi strike force into the heart of enemy territory in order to sabotage the Yuuzhan Vong’s deadliest weapons. There, with his brother and sister at his side, he will come face-to-face with his destiny—as the New Republic, still fighting the good fight, will come face-to-face with theirs. . . .

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 640 pages
• Publisher: Del Rey; First Thus edition (October 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345428676
• ISBN-13: 978-0345428677
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.2 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (258 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #98,843 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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• This is item 9 in The New Jedi Order Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Quite simply the best epic SW novel yet!, November 15, 2001

By	Nathan Blumenfeld "mastadge" (Wilmington, DE United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Star by Star (Star Wars: The New Jedi Order, Book 9) (Hardcover)

According to fellow NJO author R.A. Salvatore, one of Troy Denning's strengths is that he "can tell a BIG story, keeping control of all the side details, as well as anyone." And he's right. Star by Star is one of the three biggest SW novels ever, perhaps THE biggest, and it is also, quite simply, the best. Star by Star, marking the beginning of the third year of the Yuuzhan Vong invasion, is an important novel in the New Jedi Order arc in that it's the centerpiece of the series. This book doesn't center on any one character, but instead gives all the main characters (The movie characters, Mara, the Solo twins) approximately equal time. He gets all the characters in character, except for one, but more on that later.

Before I continue this review, I think that something needs to be cleared up. Yes, there is a major death in this book. Yes, it is sad. What people don't seem to understand, though, is that Denning didn't arbitrarily decide to kill this character, any more than Salvatore arbitrarily decided to kill Chewbacca. The New Jedi Order series is something new in Star Wars literature - a story arc. The major plot points are planned and decided, by a committee of authors and editors, well in advance of the writing of the individual novels. The reason this character was so built up in previous books was so that, like the death or hate it, the audience would care, would feel the impact. The death was not randomly thrown in as "shock value" or to piss off the fans. They are trying to show that this is war, and in war, people die, especially those who undertake suicidal missions. I applaud the NJO creative team for not shying away from such a move.

As to the characters and situations, I was very pleasantly surprised. Both sides of the conflict showed remarkable innovation in tactics and technology that had been, for the most part, sadly lacking in many of the previous books. The political scenes were some of the strongest I have read in a Star Wars novel - in fact, Borsk's first scene in this book is one of my new favorites. For the first time, and perhaps the last time, we actually get inside Borsk's head - and you might actually like what you find there. Unfortunately, he is the one character who was slightly out of character, but I loved him all the more for it. Lando, who's been neglected in the New Jedi Order series, is back in best form, as is the enigmatic but interesting Vergere, Danni Quee, Ganner, and many other old faces. The Yuuzhan Vong characters are getting better fleshed out then ever - I even found myself feeling for Tsavong Lah at times. The Jedi enter the fray with some finality, and the space battles were on a magnitude never before seen in Star Wars...simply amazing.

Despite all that this novel has going for it, there are a few flaws. The Voxyn, the new Yuuzhan Vong creations, were obviously more than a little influenced by the Aliens from the film of the same name, and several scenes from the book felt right out of that film. However, to balance that out with have the YVH droids...but enough on that. All I can say is...READ THE BOOK. And don't lose heart...I know it's dark, but this is only the middle of this saga of the New Jedi Order. Great job Troy!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Hardcover ..., February 17, 2002

By	"bsh1138" (Trenton, NJ United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Star by Star (Star Wars: The New Jedi Order, Book 9) (Hardcover)

One of the things I have liked about Star Wars novels was the importance placed on continuity between them and the movies. The collaboration between authors, publishers, and Lucas, has resulted in something rather unique in modern literature. For fans like me who read the books, it's been fun reading.

Because I was relatively late in getting into Star Wars novels I don't know if DelRey pulled the same stunt with the X-Wing series that they've now done twice with the New Jedi Order series with Balance Point and Star By Star. That is, release pricey hardcover installments in the middle of a serial line of stories, most which were released as paperbacks.

DelRey delayed the softcover release of Balance Point by six months. That was bad enough. Star by Star was published as a hardcover in October, 2001. According to their website, the paperback version won't be released until October, 2002!

They apparently are counting on the fanatically addicted, those who have some illusion of future collectible value, or some with more money than brains, to guarantee sales revenue. Well, I won't be suckered and neither should you.

Like Balance Point, I read Star By Star at a library or one of the big book stores, keeping track of the page I left off in each visit. When the paperback comes out, I won't have need to buy and they'll have lost a sale.

Star By Star is one of the better books in the New Jedi Order series, desite the events that some fans found so objectionable.

But, I will not spend $...+ for a Star Wars book.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Timothy Zahn COME BACK!!!!!, December 30, 2001

By	S. DUBOSE "S DuBose" - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Star by Star (Star Wars: The New Jedi Order, Book 9) (Hardcover)

I understand that there are somethings that need to happen in order to keep series and storylines interesting to people. If Luke Skywalker was still fighting Jabba the Hutt no one would read the novels because they all end the same. When Timothy Zahn began this new wave of stories after Jedi, he did it with flare. He made sure that they characters from the original series were invovled and active and still managed to incorporate new characters slowly and carefully...(Mara, the solo children, etc.) That is how you incorporate change and generate interest.
Killing off one character is understandable, Killing off another (and one of great importance with a flowering storyline) is unforgivable. If you wanted to keep things interesting why didn't you have one of them (the solo kids) turn to the darkside and continue the storyline through getting them back? Yes, it's been done before, but that's better than killing loved and interesting characters.
I want Timothy Zahn to come back and show these authors how it is done. Focus on the new baby, play with the relationship theme, that's where we were heading in the first place with Tahiri wasn't it?
I will read the next novel to find out what happens, but if it doesn't get better you would have lost another dedicated star wars reader........SHAPE UP PEOPLE. You have a lot of redeeming to do!!